He opens his eyes and stares at the ceiling, he doesn’t feel drowsy or tired at all. The alarm dings next to him. He quickly taps his phone and dismisses the alarm.

”Shade?”

No response.

He waits a few more seconds, no response. He sighs.

”Alright then.”

He gets to his feet and looks at the brown wood walls of his bedroom. He runs his hands through his hair and walks to the bathroom and showers.

He feels the heat of the water run down his head, hitting his shoulders and rolling down his back.

He’s so glad he can still feel heat, he can feel cold as well but not past a certain point. It must suck to be a vampire, unable to feel any kind of heat or cold.

He gets dressed and leaves his apartment, he smiles at the campus buildings. They are amazing, he’s not used to big buildings like this. He likes the city, but he’s not sure he likes living amongst such big buildings. It’s almost like he’s being swallowed by them all. Cool to look at, but claustrophobic. Though Massachusetts isn’t as claustrophobic as New York.

He walks away from Cambridge College‘s campus he walks all along the river and begins walking into all kinds of shops and restaurants and fast food places to apply for jobs. Though there aren’t many that are hiring, there are more than he thought there would be.

He applies to a pizza place, 2 grocery stores a burger fast food place and also submits an application to a coffee shop across the river.

He makes his way to a nearby grocery store. He needs something to keep himself entertained.

He walks towards the electronics section. “Hey Caden right?”

He stops and looks back at a brown haired, brown eyed guy. ‘Oh boy.’ Caden thinks to himself,

“Hey, yeah, you’re Ben?”

”Nice to see ya.”

”Yeah, same. Hey, actually you said you’re into games right? Any suggestions?”

He smiles, “Yeah you’re taking just one class right? Got to have stuff to keep your mind occupied.”

“Yeah.”

”Hey, I’m sorry for any awkwardness from me or the class. It’s just rumors we’ve heard. But I’m sure that’s all they are.”

”Until you make us mad.”

Ben raises an eyebrow. Caden smiles at the floor. “Too son?”

Ben now allows a smile to replace his shocked and slightly frightened face.

”You got me.”

”So what do you like playing the most?”

”Hmm. Time Void probably. It’s pretty fun. Basically you’re thrown into this parallel universe, but, maybe you should watch the trailer. It’s pretty good. You like any suspenseful stuff?”

”Like horror?”

”No, not really horror. But there’s this game thats really good at being suspenseful and the entire time you’re like ‘agh! What happens!?’ I like it pretty good, I’m not done with it yet. It’s called Silence Walks. It’s for the K console.”

”What the crap is a K console?” Caden asks, a little annoyed at the fact that there’s yet another common thing among this world that he’s never heard of.”

Ben laughs and waves him to follow. Caden’s led to a series of consoles used and previously used by the human world but also consoles used by the Phantom World. Such as the K console. It’s like a DNA strand but black and thick.

”That looks epic.”

”Oh it is. I got this guy and it’s really smooth.”

”Hmm. That good for $300 bucks?”

Ben smiles, “Yeah well, we understand that everyone isn't rich, a little better than humans do.”

“Hm. Yeah I might. Just applied for some jobs so we’ll see how i do money wise.”

“Oh yeah? Where’d you apply?”

A few places around the campus. Baggy’s grocery store-“

”No. No, trust me on this, management is awful and mean to everyone.”

”You worked there?”

Ben rolls his eyes, “What gave it away.”

Caden chuckles, “Where else?” Ben asks,

”Goshum Groceries, a few pizza places and a breakfast place, Breakfast’s Nook.”

Ben smiles, “Nice, both I’ve heard good stuff about. Uh-I’m on a magazine council for the school, I hear a lot of different stuff but yeah. Cool man.”

“Yeah, I’m excited to work.”

“Well! What do ya think want to give the K console a try?”

”Eh maybe, we’ll see. Might stick with a TV for now.” Caden chuckles,

Ben shrugs, “Hey, nothing wrong with a TV.”

“Yeah.”

”Well hey, I don’t want to keep you, I got to get going. But uh, maybe we could grab something to eat.”

”Yeah, sounds like fun.”

”Alright then. Maybe we can invite some others too. I’ll see ya Caden.”

”See you later.”

Caden returns to his hunt for some form of entertainment. He ends up not buying anything and just decides to stream movies and shows on his laptop. That’s how he spends the next week is homework, movies and starting work at Breakfast’s Nook and everyone there is actually pretty nice.

He knocks rhythmically on the door. It cracks open, her wet black hair hangs over her shoulder. “Caden. What is it?”

”I had some questions about us, our history. I know, we aren’t hanging out-“

”Caden! It’s fine. I just got back from work. What questions?”

”So I know how demons and vampires started, we were kinda considered the angels of the world. Then through witches and wizards and experimentaion-“

”O-okay c-come in.”

”Uh-thank you Zoe.” He says as she allows him to walk past into her apartment,

”Can you hand me my tea?”

”Uh-yeah.”

He looks at her cup on the table, a flake of something sits on the rim, his OCD kicks in he picks off the hard flake and rolls it in his fingers, he picks up a white mug off the table and hands it to her. Then drops the flake in the sink. She sips it and frowns, she walks over to the microwave and heats it up.

”So through experimentation, angels came into existence, werewolves also kinda showed themselves to the world and we became the evil things of the world, more so than any other race. Right?”

”Yeah?” She asks as she leans against the granite island in her kitchen.

”So my question is…what happened? They didnt really get into it, I asked they, will with vampires briefly, but…what about demons? What happened to us? We used to be good right?”

She opens her mouth but grits her teeth. Finally she sighs.

”….Humans don’t remember because we wiped their memories with magic. We used to all live together, phantom and human world. Angels and werewolves came, angels sabotaged us.”

”What? But…they’re angels.”

”Remember what I said? There’s good and bad everywhere, you can find it anywhere. We were looked down upon, angels grew an ego, especially toward us. They wanted to be the best, a few angels were not exactly good samaritans, they killed one of their own and pinned it on us. It was pretty convincing. Humans bought it. A war broke out, Blood Demons were also experimentation but only because we were losing the war.”

Caden frowns, “We were soldiers.”

She sips her tea and sniffles, ”Yes. They have Archangels, we have Blood Demons. But people saw it only as us going insane with jealousy and rage. So most turned on us demons. We were slaughtered. Mostly the Blood Demons. So we stopped, hid. Vanished. Until finally people came to the realization that the angels had been fooled by their own people. But to save face and their reputation, they never told the truth about Blood Demons, as for the war, you can find the truth if you know where to look and look hard enough there.”

”So….everyone thinks we are these monsters because…of a lie?”

Zoe nods, “Yeah. Vampires are a little different.”

”Zoe?”

She looks up at him, “What?”

”Were you there?”

She stares at him stunned. “What?”

He shrugs, “You talk about it like it was so traumatic. Like you were there. Sorry I don’t mean to call you out Zoe. I didn’t mean to make it about you. I just…“

She sighs and nods silently. There’s a silence that fills the room. As if the entire room and it’s contents empathize with the pain in her face.

”I was there.”

Caden stops, he stares at her, shocked that she actually answered that question. “U-uh…”

”I was….I was one of the original Blood Demons. One of the only Queens. Someone can only become a Blood Demon if they are bit by a queen. It’s something you are born into, you can’t just become one.”

Caden stares at her for a long while. “So….why not make more people Blood Demons? Raise our population again so we don’t die out?”

Her face becomes aggravated, and she shoots him a look. “It’s not that simple Caden. There’s things to consider. Family, friends, their jobs, Helena, who’s hunting us all down!”

Caden raises his hands, surrendering. “Okay. Okay. Sorry. I didn’t think about that. What if Helena wasn’t a problem? I mean she is, and there’s the council as well…but would you?”

”Make more of us?” She scoffs,

She rolls her eyes, “This isn’t a blessing Caden, we’re beasts, the definition of damnation. We’re the monsters that hide under beds….I wouldn’t wish this upon anyone. The only reason I didn't let your idiotic self die, is because you’re…”

She stops, her eyes widen. “What?”

She frowns at him, obvious confusion on her face.

”Zoe?”

She looks down, searching the floor for some question that’s hidden from him. Then it hit her, she looks down into her mug.

“Di….did you…drug me?”

Caden tilts his head. “Come again?”

She looks up at him, hostile, unsure eyes attempt to pierce him to the soul.

”Caden…did you just drug me!?”

”Whoa whoa! No, I promise you I didn’t! I swear on my life! What’s wrong?”

She looks down at the mug. “Tell me the truth right now Jackson or I swear I’ll rip your throat out!” She spits,

Caden presses himself back into the wall and raises his hands up. “Zoe. I promise you. I promise you I didn’t.”

Her eyes soften a little. “Someone just tried to.” They look at her mug as she sets it down.

”I can taste it.”

Caden swallows hard and studies her carefully.

”Are you ok-“

”What was the thing on my mug Caden?!”

”Th-the little flake thing? I uh, threw it in the sink.”

She hurries around the island and to the sink, she studies it for half a second and turns with her hand raised, a small white pebble in between her thumb and index finger.

She sets it on the counter and marches over to Caden. “Zoe!?”

He backs up into the living room and tips, falling on his back, she bends over him and pins him to the ground. Her sharp nails dig into his skin.

”Agh! Zoe! I swear it wasn’t me!”

”Look me in the eyes! Tell me right fricken now! Did you drug me!?”

”No! Zoe no I didn’t! I promise you it was already on your mug! I-I didn’t know what it was! I just pulled it off you mug i swear!”

Her black and red eyes mixed with her facial expression tell him how she desperately wants to rip his head off.

She stares, blood thirsty for a moment longer, she finally releases his arms and gets to her feet. Who. Would DARE drug me?” She spits,

Caden shakes horribly as he lifts himself up onto his elbows and watches her hurry to the crumb and inspect it a second time.

”H-h-how do you…”

”I never would have told you about our beginning! Let alone me being a queen Caden! Get out. Get out now!”

Caden jumps to his feet. “Z-Zoe I can-“

”Get oooouuut! Now Caden now!”

He jumps at her ferocity. He hurries to the front door and opens it, she slams it hard behind him.

”Holy….”

”Caden?”

He jumps and looks at Rae down the hall.

”You okay?” She asks,

He stares at her for a moment, still shocked and taken back. “Uh…I-I…uh…yeah.”

She raises an eyebrow. “You sure? That was…pretty loud.” She says softly,

She’s half shrunken down herself, half hiding behind her long hair. “Y-yeah. It was. It’s uh. It’s a long story. I don’t really feel comfortable telling.”

She nods, “Are you okay? Did she hurt you?”

”No.”

She raises the other eyebrow. “Is she okay?”

”Yeah. No. Uh…Maybe.”

She looks at her apartment door in front of her and back at him. “I-I was gonna see if you were hungry. I left over pizza. Um-“

”Maybe another time.”

”Yeah. Yeah of course. I’m sorry I just-after that I didn’t know if it would help or not.”

”Um I should just get some…rest uh…”

”Yeah, I’ll talk to you tomorrow.”

”Bye.”

”Bye.” She whispers,

She walks into her apartment and shuts the door softly,

He walks into his and slides down against the door until his butt hits the floor. Whoa. What the crap just happened?

He shakes his head. “Okay then.”

He gets to his feet and thinks about yelling at Zoe. All he has ever done is respect her and be kind to her! But then it hits him. He’s the only person that’s been kind to her in who knows how long. Maybe she started to doubt his intentions.

But regardless, he’s still angry. She just yelled at him for doing nothing wrong. But what really infuriates him is that someone might have drugged Zoe. Who would do that? To her!?

He sits on his counter and racks his brain, he needs to talk to her. But right now isn’t the best time. He’ll write her a letter tomorrow.

He spends the night trying to word it as best as he possibly can. He wastes four pieces of paper and finally completes it. He waits patiently, he checks his phone, the charging cord dangles from it, a crimson color that reminds him of blood. He thinks about the night he became a Blood Demon. He was so weak. Weak? Weak!

What if it was Helena or someone who works for her? Zoe talked about how she’s sadistic! Maybe she just wanted Zoe alone, torture her a little. But no, why wouldn’t she just attack? Its a theory.

He writes the P.S. in the letter and continues to wait until 6 AM. She’s gone to work by now. He walks out and tapes the letter on her door.

He exhales hard through her nose, he hopes she’s okay. He walks back to his own place and showers before work.

He walks to work, the sky is grey, it looks like a rain storm will hit soon. Regardless theres a lot of people at the coffee and breakfast shop. Humans come a lot, but it’s workers and a third of it’s costumers are from the Phantom World.

He throws his apron on and starts delivering plates to tables. He does like working here, for the most part, it’s peaceful. It helps him not feel so abnormal.

”Hey Cade?”

”Yeah?”

”Can you grab table 6?”

Caden’s eyes widen, “You want me to wait a table?”

Tony shrugs, “You trained. You got this.”

Caden smiles, he likes Tony. He lives at the gym outside of work. But he’s not the stereotypical brute that only cares about himself. Tony is a stud of a man. He’s also the General Manager.

Caden grabs a menu and walks to a booth by the window at the front of the store.

”Hello! Welcome to…”

She looks up at him, she raises an eyebrow and then realizes, she looks at his name tag and back at his eyes. “Caden. I remember you.”

”Um tell me one more time.”

She smiles, “Saige.”

”Pleasure to see you again, uh can i get you anything to start?”

“Dude. I’m a vampire.” She whispers,

He leans a little closer, “Dude. We are Phantom friendly.” He teases,

She raises an eyebrow, “Oh yeah? Since when?”

”I don’t know, I started working pretty recently. But we got options for you too.”

”Hm. Yeah I’ll take a look.”

”I’ll be right back.”

Caden walks away and into the back. He searches through their office and grabs a phantom friendly menu.

”Dude that VMP…whew.”

”I’d hit that. Twice.”

Caden makes an annoyed face at Jake as Caden walks past them and the front counter.

”You realize she’s a VMP right?”

”Yeah? One sexy vampire. She’d love it.”

”She’s got a bigger pair than yours.” Caden says,

Jake and Talon raise their eyebrows. “Dude. Chill. What’s your problem?”

“Just saying, she probably isn’t interested in tic tacs.”

Their faces turn dark toward him. Caden shrugs, “Of course you also realize…she has super hearing…right?”

They both turn pale and stiffen. They both look at her and back at him. “Yeah. Respect is an actual thing believe it or not.” Caden says as he Starts to her table,

She smiles down at her book. “Sorry bout that wait. Here you go.”

”Tic tac?” She says through her grinning teeth,

”Sorry about that.”

”Are you kidding? I was gonna roast em, but that was hilarious.”

He snorts and smiles, “Well, again, I apologize you had to hear them.”

”What do you recommend? For me I mean.”

”Uh, haven’t tried them yet but heard that the, tomato soup has actually brought tears.”

She smiles a little broader. “Alright one ‘tomato’ soup for me then.”

”Coming up.”

Caden turns and delivers the order to the kitchen. He waits two other tables and goes back and forth between that and running out breakfast, lunch and drinks to people.

He runs the soup out to Saige and tells her to enjoy. She thanks him and digs into her soup. As he serves other people he smiles as they light up from the food they eat. Jake and Talon don’t say another thing to him the entire day.

”You think you were a little harsh to them?” Tony whispers to Caden as he walks into the kitchen and waits for the next thing to run out.

”Who?”

”Jake and Talon.”

”No.”

Tony smiles, “Good, I don’t either, they were out of line. Especially at work, just. A little quieter next time.”

Caden makes an awkward face. “Ssssorry.”

Tony shrugs, “You’re a cool dude.”

”Aw, Tony!”

”Shut up. Go.” He chuckles,

When he goes out, Saige is gone, but she left him a $20 tip, on a receipt she left behind is her number and her name.

’Hit me up.’ She had written on the receipt.

He’ll have to ask her how she liked the soup. Obviously a lot. He likes this job, there’s always awesome costumers, he feels comfortable enough to just joke with them, and they feel the same. He gets good tips but since he’s not technically a waiter he only is allowed to keep Maisie’s tip that night. Not that he’s complaining. He still gets paid a decent amount. But that’s because he’s quick on his feet. He continues working hard until the store closes that night.

He helps Tony close up and they walk out. “See ya Monday man.”

“Night buddy.”

Caden starts away, today was a long day. But he was glad he got to see Saige. She’s pretty cool, she’s really pretty too.

”Someone’s happy.”

He looks back, FFFT! “Ughft!” He bends over, pain explodes through his stomach. Her sharp nails dug in deep beneath his skin.

He shakes hard, but before he can even react he’s thrown backwards into the air. He hits the ground and rolls hard across the sidewalk.

”I would be asking what made you so happy but, then I recognized you. The little brat that interrupted my dinner that night.”

He groans and rolls to his face. “Yeah, I saw you and this overwhelming urge to gut you like a pig came over me. It’s not really my style but sometimes you just need to get the stress out. Right?”

He gasps and coughs, trying hard to breathe. Tears run down from the corners of his eyes, down the sides of his head. He looks over at her, while still breathless, Helena.

”I shredded, not ripped, your sternum. Man. This is totally satisfying.”

Caden can feel himself healing. He pushes himself up to his hands and- She bolts forward with impossible speed and slams her leg against his ribs cracking several of them. He rolls through the air and hits the sidewalk hard.

He moans and rolls to his chest, pain! Pain everywhere in his torso! His pushes up to his hands and knees.

”R-reckta.” He mutters,

Everything kicks in, his speed healing, sounds from across the river, the sound of the water, its soft but loud movement. He can feel the definition of his muscles and strength. He can hear her excited breath.

”You think you’re fast enough?”

Caden sprints towards her, she leaps and flips over him, she grabs his shoulders and slams him back down into the concrete, cracking it and his body.

He grunts, she straddles him and pins his arms and legs down with her own extremities. He can feel the spell disappear along with it’s effects. If not from the force of the blow his head spins like crazy from the spell. Oh man! He might black out right now.

She smirks at him, her brown hair hangs down, tickling his cheeks. “I have to say, granted you’re new blood. I’m very disappointed, I expected more of a fight.”

He pushes against her but pain is exploding everywhere now. He has no idea what parts of him are broken, but it’s definitely a lot.

He groans angrily through his teeth. She goggles, “It’s sad how hard you’re trying. I almost want to let you live. Almost.”

She slaps her hand against his throat, making him release a harsh, ugly sound as the air inside him, once more, flees his body. She lifts him up and with more force than ever, swings him overhead and slams him into the ground hard. He yells out, but the yell is almost deafened by the cracking sound of the concrete. He coughs hard until blood squirts up out of his mouth and onto his neck and the ground next to him.

”I’m not done with you. Yet.”

She picks him up by the collar of his shirt, she pulls a little bright glowing blue square from her pocket chucks it to the ground behind her. Explodes and a portal opens. “I’ll deal with you soon enough. But I have to find your friend first.”

She then throws him through the portal he slides against a tile floor, groaning and moaning from the pain, he looks at her. She tilts her head as the portal closes as if mocking his pain by pretending to feel sympathy.

He lies there, shaking from the shock and pain. He is barely getting his breath back when he hears chains clinking.

He gasps and looks around, he tries not to groan and whine as his bones fix and realign themselves.

The room is dark and cold. The tile ground is freezing cold. What’s in here with him? Where is he? His eyes quickly adjust, a perk of being a Blood Demon. Seeing better in the dark. What was pitch black is now slightly illuminated to his eyes.

Along the walls are empty chains that hang down, something dark, probably blood, stains the walls. In the corner of the room, furthest away from him, a figure sits, in their handcuffs. Caden looks around him, there’s a door to his right. He hurries to it and looks at it closer. He stands against the wall, where the door would swing open and back to. But no one comes. Okay! Okay! He doesn’t have time for this!

He hurries, as quietly as he can to the figure. As he gets closer, he realizes it’s an angel. They clench at the sound of his footsteps and jolt.

Her breathing turns jagged and loud. She whines loud and short, “P-p-plea…please. No more.” She begs in her ragged, incredibly hoarse voice,

She sits awkwardly on her knees, her forehead leaning against the corner. She huffs out and cries, but it’s an awful sound.

Caden’s stomach turns over, his heart pounds as he sees her like this, her wings are either stained or have been bruised and beaten in a way that there are plenty of bald spots. But regardless, because of the angels and how they bend. They are broken.

”R-reckta.” He says, clearing his throat,

The power briefly tale over him and he finishes healing. He jolts at the sparks of pain. He grabs her chained wrists and rips away the restraints.

She whines sharply and softly with her hoarse voice at the pain of him touching her raw skin. He pulls her gently away and lets her fall back into his arms.

She whines and shakes so violently. “K-kill me.” She mutters,

tears roll down his cheeks, how? How could someone be so cruel? How can someone do this to another living person?

”I’m gonna get you out of here. Okay? You’re going home.”

She stares at him through the pitch black, she reaches up shakily and feels his neck, she runs her hands up and over his head, she then cries and quickly finds his shoulder. She tries to pull him in, he brings her close and she cries against his shoulder.

He picks her up and carries her to the door. He stops and looks down at her. He kneels down and sets her against the wall.

”Nyuh-nuh!” She tries to reach for him and pull him close again but he grabs her hands,

”I’m not leaving you. There’s probably people on the other side of this door, I’m gonna kill them. I swear I’ll come back.

He gets to his feet and walks in front of the door. He twists the handle, locked. He lets his eyes turn black, his iris’s turn a glowing blue. He doesn’t know why he didn’t use Full Demonic against Helena, he was just so surprised. He helps the angel and picks her up and places her in front of the door.

”Just wait here. Trust me.”

He lifts his leg and kicks open the door. It rips off the hinges and hits the stairs hard. He jumps to the side and waits shouting and panicked voice yell up the stairs in a language he doesn't know. He see’s the shadows coming down. He turns into the door away and swings his clawed hands and slashes one of the men’s faces, he hits the wall hard and yells out, a woman behind him throws her hand out.

Caden shouts his spell just in time, he grabs the angel and bolts up the stairs, easily avoiding the fire spell the woman tried to release.

Caden slams his fist into her face and lets the spell disappear. His goes crazy and he falls to his butt as she flies through the wall behind her. Jeez Caden’s gonna kill himself. He breathes heavily and his head is going insane.

He groans and forces himself up to his feet, he bolts toward another set of stairs where he hears someone coming down them. He jumps over the flimsy wooden railing and slams into another man and they roll down the steps to the ground. Caden is straddled and the man begins hitting him over and over and over.

Caden who is still Full Demonic shoves his dagger like nails into the man’s stomach and slices up and across his chest. The man screams out. Caden rolls over on top of him and hits him once, knocking him out. He hurries to the mortified Angel’s side, she holds her mouth with her hand, tears streaming her red cheeks, she looks at him horrified as he picks her up.

Caden hurries for the nearest door and sprints out the door into the night. The last thing he wants is to stick around and meet any friends that were there. Fresh air enters his nostrils, no longer the claustrophobic stench of that place. A sweet smell fills the air. He runs as fast as he can down the middle of the empty road. She whines and gasps painfully in his arms as she bounces around. He makes it 9 blocks and jumps into an alleyway.

He sets the angel down gently and breathes heavily. She places her hand on his. He looks at her and sighs.

”I’m not going anywhere. I’m sorry I left you for a moment. I’m gonna get you home okay?”

He tries to stand but she whines and grabs his hand, he freezes, mid crouch. She gently pulls on his arm.

He crouches down and stares at her. Blood and bruises cover her face and body. She wears a well worn brown shirt peppered with holes around the stomach. Her jeans, ripped into shorts are covered in staines and rips.

”Th-thank you.” She mutters,

He smiles, he gets up and turns and peeks into the street. He looks the other way only to get slammed in the face. He slides down to his butt.

”You’re gonna die now. And so is she, when we’re done with her.”

Caden goes Full Demonic again. He looks up at the ugly faced man, the one he knocked out.

His golden eyes glow at him. “You think you’re tough?!”

Caden jumps up and launches at him but the man uses the movement to turn and throw Caden into the opposite wall. He grabs Caden’s shirt and knees him in the stomach twice then throws him hard into the alley closer to the angel.

She whines and gasps at her pain, she pushes hard against the wall as she tries to get her knees under her. She pushes up but her legs give out before she stands and she hits the ground again with a grunt.

Caden climbs to his feet. He looks at the man, he crouches and growls, fur begins to grow out of him and his hands turn into feet, he stands on his hind legs, his mouth and nose turn into a snout and the man’s ears become long and pointed. As it grew in size, the man’s clothes tear and fall off. He growls evilly at Caden.

Caden lets out a massive, loud, animalistic roar at the werewolf. The werewolf readies himself, Caden just walks toward this monster. The werewolf growls again, it charges toward him. Caden jumps and kicks off the wall as the werewolf dives for him. Caden bites down hard into his shoulder and sinks his claws into the werewolf’s throat, deep. The werewolf lets out a whine but jumps back into the air, attempting to crush Caden against the ground. This huge beast jumped high enough though that it gave Caden time to think. And being in Full Demonic mode, Caden can and act much faster.

Caden flips over the werewolf’s shoulder and kicks down into the werewolf’s chest, kicking him into the asphalt.

Caden swings and slashes his face twice. He dives off as the werewolf swings for him but almost entirely misses, it manages to slice Caden’s leg, but it quickly heals. Caden turns and throws himself into the werewolf as it gets to his feet. He then rams his claws into it’s chest with incredible force. The werewolf then whines sharply and drops, limp.

Caden raises his other hand but realizes, he stops, breathing heavily and fast. The werewolf’s corpse then slowly returns to a human form. Caden looks down at the man, and up at the angel.

She shakes at the sight but looks up at Caden. She tries again to get to her feet but cries out when she fails. She exhales shakily. As if exhaling physical pain.

Caden looks at the man and back. He lets his mind run calm. He hides his Full Demonic eyes and claws.

She looks at him again and stares again. He looks down. A little taken back he examines his healing wound faster. He got cut pretty bad and deep on the side of his leg, he didn’t even notice.

”It’s, it’s fine. Come on. Let’s go home. Where do you live?”

She clears her throat. “New…N…New Y-Yooor-ugh.” She says quietly and hoarsely,

He bends down next to her, he holds up a hand, “I get it. New York?”

She nods, Caden thinks for a moment. “What if I took you to my place? Just till tomorrow? You’ll feel a little better. I don’t live too far. I know some people that might be able to help. Would that be okay?”

She nods softly, her eyes are glazing over. She’s been trying too hard to stand. She’s expended too much energy. He gently picks her up in his arms and starts toward the alley entrance.

”U-uh!”

He looks at her, she points down to the man’s pants, a glowing blue light shines from a pocket.

Caden bends down and sets her down. He reaches in and pulls out the blue cube. Just like Helena’s. He looks at her. “Nice! Nicely done!”

He kisses the side of her head, but she gives no response. “Do you know how they work?”

She nods, “Think….of-ugh…your…place.”

He nods, “Okay.”

He thinks of his apartment, he tries his best to visualize it. He throws it against the asphalt. The cube pops loudly and a portal opens. He looks through and sees the entrance to his apartment, the kitchen island in front of him, the living room to the right.

He quickly picks her up and hurries through the portal. He looks back as he hears sirens begin to sound. But the portal closes and the sound disappears.

He sets her softly on the couch. “I’ll be right back okay?”

She nods slowly, he walks out and hurries to Zoe’s door. He pounds on it hard repeatedly. She doesn’t answer, he pounds on it again. The letter is gone. So she must be home right?

”Zoe? Zoe I need your help right now.”

He bangs on her door again, she doesn’t answer. Helena didn’t find her…right? He shakes bad, Saige.

He hurries back to his apartment and pulls out the receipt. He dials the number and paces the floor.

Almost immediately it picks up. “Hello?”

”Saige!-ugh. Uh. Caden!-It’s Caden, listen, uh I-“

”You know, most people will wait 1, maybe even 2 days before calling.”

”Saige! I need your help. Like right now. Something happened.”

”What do you mean?”

”I got attacked, and I…found something, can you come over?”

”Um…to your place?”

”Please Saige! My friend isn’t home, I don’t know where she is, if she’s even safe! This is serious, I can’t leave my place right now, I need some help right now.”

”Uh…alright…where do you live?”

”I’ll text you the address.”

”Okay.”

He hangs up the phone and sends her the address. He looks at the angel, she points to the ground and then signs ‘OK’ with her hand.

“Yeah this place is okay. It’s safe.”

She shakes her head and sighs, “It….will be, okay.” She says,

Caden nods, “Yeah. It’ll be okay. Are you okay? I’m sorry, I never asked.”

She nods, her eyes blink really slowly. “You can sleep if you want.”

Knock-knock-knock!

Caden swings open the door, only it isn’t Saige.

”Zoe.”

Her wet hair hangs down over her shoulder, practically dripping wet.

”Dude! Did you j-what theeee, heck happened to you?”

“Come in! Come in!”

FFFFFT!

Saige skids to a halt. Both jump and stare at her. “What happened?! Who’s this?” She asks,

”Come on.” He waves them in,

They both hurry in, but Saige stops as soon as she enters, she begins breathing heavy and her eyes roll back for a second, she inhales deeply and covers her nose.

”Ugh! Oh gosh! Wow!”

”Who’s this?” Zoe asks pointing at the angel sitting on the couch,

”Ca-Caden…whoa. You…you smell really good.” Saige mutters biting her lip,

She whines and hurries to the sink with her super speed. Caden and Zoe stare at her.

”Ca-Caden can you just…wash you blood off please? Now Caden!?”

He jumps and does as asked, he hurries to the bathroom and washes his blood off his body with a rag. He then gets dressed and throws the torn clothes away. He hurries back out, Zoe is on the couch with the angel woman, Saige is still leaning over the sink.

”Ugh…I can still smell you.” She says as she shakes,

”Are you okay?”

Saige hangs her head and holds up a thumb. “Caden. Who is is?” Zoe asks,

He looks at Zoe. “Um…I kinda…got jumped. By Helena.”

Zoe looks up at him, even Saige looks back at him. “She attacked me as I walked out of work. She was, brutal, she through me through a portal and I landed in…I don’t know where I was, it definitely wasn’t America.

I was in this…jail cell room. I found her chained to the wall. We escaped, a werewolf followed and attacked us I, took care of him.-“

”Ha! Nice.” Saige says,

”He had this…this glowing cube it-it opened a portal to here.”

”Wait wait wait. She threw you into a portal and you just…escaped?”

Knock-knock-knock!

They all stare at the door. Saige releases her fangs and claws, she walks to the door and pulls it open.

”Yeah? What do you want?”

Caden walks to where he can see her. “Is Caden he-Caden!”

She tries to push past Saige, but she holds her in place. “Rae? What is it?”

”I-I saw you! Outside! The fight! I didn’t know where the portal sent you! I tried to find you!”

”Wait, what?”

”The-the portal, I opened it but…I got the spell wrong or something. I tried to open it up to me.”

Caden looks at Zoe, “How is that possible?”

Zoe frowns, Saige lets her step inside and shuts the door.

”They opened in the same place. It’s a phenomenon, it’s really dangerous. It’s Portal Merging. When two portals open in the same place, they merge. Both parties have a destination, when they merge the portal opens to a location between the two desired locations.” Zoe says,

”I ended up somewhere in the middle?” Caden asks,

”What happened? What happened to her?”

“Rae, you can’t ever, ever! Tell anyone.”

Rae looks at them all and back to Caden. “What’s going on?”

”Short story, I got attacked. You opened a portal, the woman who attacked me opened a portal, the whole portal merging thing happened and i ended up in a jail cell. I found her opened a portal and came back.”

”Which means. You weren’t supposed to end up there Caden. You weren’t supposed to find her.” Saige says,

They all look at the angel, she’s passed out and leaning against Zoe, laying her head on her shoulder.

”We can ask her about it when she wakes up.” Zoe says,

Zoe picks her up gently, “Can she use your bed?”

”Yeah-yeah. I planned on it. Go ahead and take her.”

Zoe takes her down the hall and into his room. “Holy cow. So who attacked you?”

Caden opens his mouth but Saige beats him to it. ”Rae? This needs to stay quiet.”

Rae frowns at her, “I’m not gonna tell anyone. I promise.”

”A demon attacked me. That’s all we really know, I didn’t recognize them. But they were demon.”

Rae looks at them, “You’re okay?”

”Yeah. Um…listen Rae. Uh…”

”I get it. Um…keep me as updated as you can?”

”Rae you’re the best.”

She gives a soft smile, “Be safe guys, if you need help I’m a few doors down.”

She walks out and shuts the door behind her. “Caden? You just barely met me.”

”I know. But it’s easier to question one person than two.”

Zoe marches up to Saige, Saige twitches and backs up agains the wall.

”Zoe?” She says,

”Zoe wait-wait-wait!”

Zoe puts her hand on the wall and stares her hard in the eyes. “Uh Zoe? I’m not evil, promise.” She says trying to push Zoe away,

”Look me in the eyes Saige and tell me the truth right now.” She says as she grabs his arm tight,

Saige flinches and grabs Zoe’s hand. “Ah! Ow! Z-Zoe that hurts!”

Caden hurries over and grabs Zoe and pulls her away. “Come on! Stop!”

Saige just looks terrified. “Come on! I’m not with Helena!”

Zoe glares at him and finally sighs and softens her eyes. “Fine.”

“But you better explain yourself, now Saige.”